serve
Americanverb (used without object)
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to act as a servant.
- Synonyms:
- attend
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to wait on table, as a waiter.
- Synonyms:
- attend
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to offer or have a meal or refreshments available, as for patrons or guests.
Come early, we're serving at six.
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to offer or distribute a portion or portions of food or a beverage, as a host or hostess.
It was her turn to serve at the faculty tea.
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to render assistance; be of use; help.
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to go through a term of service, do duty as a soldier, sailor, senator, juror, etc.
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to have definite use.
This cup will serve as a sugar bowl.
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to answer the purpose.
That will serve to explain my actions.
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(in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put the ball or shuttlecock in play with a stroke, swing, or hit.
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to be favorable, suitable, or convenient, as weather or time.
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Ecclesiastical. to act as a server.
verb (used with object)
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to be in the service of; work for.
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to be useful or of service to; help.
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to go through (a term of service, imprisonment, etc.).
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to render active service to (a sovereign, commander, etc.).
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to render obedience or homage to (God, a sovereign, etc.).
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to perform the duties of (a position, an office, etc.).
to serve his mayoralty.
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to answer the requirements of; suffice.
This will serve our needs for the moment.
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to contribute to; promote.
to serve a cause.
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to wait upon at table; act as a waiter or waitress to.
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to carry and distribute (portions of food or drink) to a patron or a specific table, as a waiter or waitress.
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to act as a host or hostess in offering (a person) a portion of food or drink.
May I serve you with some tea and cake?
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to act as a host or hostess in offering or distributing (a portion or portions of food or drink) to another.
They served tea and cake to their guests.
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to provide with a regular or continuous supply of something.
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(in tennis, badminton, handball, etc.) to put (the ball or shuttlecock) in play.
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to treat in a specified manner.
That served him ill.
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Law.
-
to make legal delivery of (a process or writ).
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to present (a person) with a writ.
-
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to gratify (desire, wants, needs, etc.).
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(of a male animal) to mate with; service.
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to operate or keep in action (a gun, artillery, etc.).
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Nautical. to wrap (a rope) tightly with small stuff, keeping the turns as close together as possible.
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Slang. to present or embody (a particular aesthetic, persona, or quality) in a confident or captivating way.
noun
idioms
verb
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to be in the service of (a person)
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to render or be of service to (a person, cause, etc); help
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(in a shop) to give (customers) information about articles for sale and to hand over articles purchased
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(tr) to provide (guests, customers, etc) with food, drink, etc
she served her guests with cocktails
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to distribute or provide (food, drink, etc) for guests, customers, etc
do you serve coffee?
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to present (food, drink, etc) in a specified manner
cauliflower served with cheese sauce
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(tr) to provide with a regular supply of
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(tr) to work actively for
to serve the government
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(tr) to pay homage to
to serve God
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to answer the requirements of; suit
this will serve my purpose
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(intr; may take an infinitive) to have a use; function
this wood will serve to build a fire
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to go through (a period of service, enlistment, imprisonment, etc)
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(intr) (of weather, conditions, etc) to be favourable or suitable
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Also: service. (tr) (of a male animal) to copulate with (a female animal)
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sport to put (the ball) into play
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(intr) RC Church to act as server at Mass or other services
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(tr) to deliver (a legal document, esp a writ or summons) to (a person)
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to provide (a machine, etc) with an impulse or signal for control purposes or with a continuous supply of fuel, working material, etc
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(tr) nautical to bind (a rope, spar, etc) with wire or fine cord to protect it from chafing, etc See also seize
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informal to pay a person back, esp for wrongful or foolish treatment or behaviour
noun
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sport short for service 1
-
a portion or helping of food or drink
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overserveverb (used with object)
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servableadjective
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serveableadjective
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underservedadjective
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unservableadjective
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unservedadjective
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well-servedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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servesimple
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servessimple
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have servedperfect
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has servedperfect
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am servingprogressive
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are servingprogressive
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is servingprogressive
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have been servingperfect progressive
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has been servingperfect progressive
Past
-
servedsimple
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had servedperfect
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was servingprogressive
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were servingprogressive
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had been servingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of serve
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin servīre, equivalent to serv(us) “enslaved person” ( cf. serf) + -īre, infinitive suffix
Explanation
To serve is to perform a role or function. While your co-worker is out sick, you gladly serve as his replacement until he gets better. Serve comes from the Latin word for servant or slave, but you can serve people without being subordinate to them. You might serve your family hamburgers for dinner, or serve the tennis ball. If you serve a cause, you devote yourself to it. Bug repellant will serve you well on a summer fishing trip. In prison you serve time. If you're elected Mayor, you'll serve a term of three or four years.
Vocabulary lists containing serve
The Smashing Lexicon of Tennis
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"The Challenge"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
5th Grade Government Vocabulary, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Former defence minister Al Carns says he has turned down an offer to serve in Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
A transaction report provided by the nonprofit shows it paid ASF Solutions nearly $1.3 million in 2025 to serve three meals a day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"He's introducing contracts so that mobilised soldiers at least know how long they'll have to serve," the soldier told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
Wariness about one speech is not the same as caution about the project the speech was meant to serve.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
He held the tetherball up again to serve.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
In reality, he argues, it serves almost the opposite purpose.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The morning after the address, “Fox & Friends,” the network’s flagship three-hour morning show that typically serves as a rallying ground for administration priorities, pointedly neglected to even cover the speech.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
She said she serves as president of ASF Solutions, from which she takes her salary, and that R&K Mgmt doesn’t currently have any revenue and she doesn’t collect a salary from the firm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The deal serves as a test of Ukraine’s ability to act as a domestic manufacturing base for sophisticated Western-designed weapons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“A stadium. A very festive coliseum. You could continue on with it after you win, though without the game it serves no purpose.”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
For generations, these documents were little more than family heirlooms that served as painful reminders of fortunes lost after the revolution led by Fidel Castro’s bearded guerrillas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The villagers have camp beds in the gym hall and are served three meals every day, said local Red Cross coordinator Felipe Argomaniz.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The recent correction has served as a necessary relief valve, reducing the risk of a blow-off top while allowing leadership to broaden.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Prior to joining the city, Forbes served as director of the San Francisco Port from 2016 to 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The food was served family style and I ate so much I came close to making myself sick.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Alexander began the role in September 2025 after the sacking of Scottish Labour's longest serving MP, Ian Murray, in a UK government reshuffle.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In addition to orchestrating different AI models, the AI Control Tower is now increasingly serving as a gateway to vet nonhuman identities.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
However, Chelsea were handed a transfer ban in 2019 over breaches relating to youth recruitment and are currently serving restrictions on registering academy players following historical offences dating back to the Abramovich era.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The diplomatic machinery is already grinding toward those meetings, with each serving as a checkpoint Beijing wants to clear without a Taiwan arms package in between.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
He scoops, slapping a serving on a tin plate.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
